What Should I Major In?!

<p>I'm so frustrated!! I really want to know what I should major in, but my options are so broad, it confuses me even more. My interests are basically everything! I like subjects ranging from Math to English to Foreign Languages to Ancient History. I like pretty much everything, but majoring in something is far far different than just simply liking it. A major to me is a combination of what you're naturally better at and what you like. People say my strengths are writing and I somewhat do agree with them, but frankly, people who writes don't make much money. I like writing, but I like living comfortably more. It's not like I'm not willing to work for it, but I have to know what I should work for first! I was thinking about this, and well, I go to a pretty good research institution, and I don't mind research.. but I don't even know what I want to research for! I was thinking of a major that has a combination of travel, writing and research?? And I'm not too familiar with 'research' as a job. Is it just like for school? Like, you just look at books and talk to people trying to find information about something right? Any ideas or suggestions? </p>

<p>I would've loved to try going into math or science, but it's not my natural talent, and it's too late for that anyway. :(</p>

<p>English, maybe. It plays to your interests.</p>

<p>Your description of research is mostly correct, but you may also make presentations on your findings.</p>

<p>If you have a wide variety of interests, then finding an employable degree within your interests should be very easy...you're actually quite lucky!</p>

<p>When selecting a major and deciding on a career direction, it is important to make the most well informed decisions possible. These decisions should be based on facts rather than myths. They should include a variety of factors -- first, your interests, values, skills, and abilities; and second, your knowledge of the career fields and job opportunities. Commonly believed myths, dispelled below, will not help you to decide on a major.
In selecting a college major you are NOT choosing a career.</p>

<p>While it is true that certain majors such as Engineering, Computer Science and Accounting prepare students for fairly specific career fields, a far greater number of majors do not have a direct correlation with given career areas. Liberal Arts majors often find that they have a wide variety of career options because their backgrounds are so broad. A study conducted by the College Placement Council indicated that the majority of college graduates are successfully employed in fields not directly related to their academic majors.
Job market demand should NOT be the primary determinant of academic and career choices.</p>

<p>Selecting a major and pursuing a career just because it's "hot" in the job market can be dangerous. You may enjoy neither the course work nor the job you get later. The careers in demand when you are a freshman or sophomore may not be in demand by the time you graduate. You are on much firmer ground when you select a major or choose a career goal that genuinely interests you. Job market demand moves in cycles. What is hot becomes cold as supply rushes to meet demand. Also, new career fields and jobs emerge every year as a result of changes in technology, public policy, and economic trends. Factors that influence job market demand are often unpredictable.
Liberal Arts majors ARE employable.</p>

<p>Liberal Arts graduates develop skills that are highly valued by employers and that are applicable to a wide variety of professional jobs. In a longitudinal study of AT&T employees, humanities and social science majors were found to be stronger than engineering majors and similar to business majors in administrative skills and motivation for advancement, and in the area of interpersonal skills liberal arts majors were the strongest of all groups. The number of liberal arts students being interviewed by employers through on-campus recruiting at UC Berkeley has increased significantly in recent years.
You do NOT need a specific undergraduate major to gain admission to postgraduate professional schools in such fields as business, law or medicine.</p>

<p>While some postgraduate professional schools require or recommend the completion of certain academic prerequisites, in most cases no specific major is required. In other instances, only broad skills are sought, e.g. the ability to read and write well and to think critically. Students with academic majors in several of the humanities have higher acceptance rates to medical schools than do biology majors.
There is much you can do BEYOND course work in your major to improve your chances of career success.</p>

<p>Supplementary courses and independent study projects can be helpful. Important experience can be gained and skills developed through extracurricular activities such as student organizations, athletic teams, social groups, and student government. Internships, summer and part-time jobs and volunteer activities play an important part in developing greater understanding of yourself and the world of work. Employers consistently place a high value on these extracurricular activities, internships, part-time and summer work experiences.</p>

<p><a href="http://ls-advise.berkeley.edu/choosingmajor/myth.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://ls-advise.berkeley.edu/choosingmajor/myth.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>There are many resources online as to major.</p>

<p>I believe in choosing what you truly want to do in life regardless of the job market. But you sound like you want to "live comfortably". Some peoples' definition of living comfortably would actually be doing what they want to do in life and getting by. So since you do want to earn a little more cash than usual (as DRab said, it's dangerous to choose based off of money factors), I suppose it wouldn't hurt to factor that in a little bit as well. English majors could still make decent money as far as I know. And you would be doing a lot of the things you said you wanted to do. However, it's best to look at all options possible and then choose something. So go to your college website and look up all of the possible major programs and read up on them. Look at the course catalog as well to see what kind of courses you would be taking if you were in a certain major.</p>

<p>Hm... Then.. how do people get the job if that's not even their major? I always thought that choosing a major means choosing a job. How do people get jobs in their major field right after college?? Internships? What can you do with a degree in English? Teach?</p>

<p>I came across this site..</p>

<p><a href="http://www.utexas.edu/student/careercenter/careers/english.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.utexas.edu/student/careercenter/careers/english.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Can you really do all that with just a major in English? I usually think of it as just teaching.</p>

<p>The BA is rarely a preprofessional degree. It's a stepping stone degree which allows you to go off into many different fields. Teaching is one of these, althoug if you want to teach at the college level, it is very likely you will be able to do that anywhere without at the very least a masters degree, and most likely a PhD. </p>

<p>Besides what's listed, there are many other things you could do with an English degree. There are other lists to find . . .</p>